


A Reyuxmas Story : An Unexpected Present

by Maria_Metal_Darkness



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Christmas, Christmas Eve, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Reyux, Reyuxmas, Romance with a touch of magic, feelings and confessions over a Cabernet Sauvignon, writing for all this food made me hungry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-30
Updated: 2019-01-01
Packaged: 2019-09-30 13:48:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,967
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17225186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maria_Metal_Darkness/pseuds/Maria_Metal_Darkness
Summary: It's Christmas Eve and Rey turns to Santa with a request.And it seems that even though Rey's apartment doesn’t have a chimney, he has managed to sneak into her home and leave her a present. The present.This is very-very late but couldn't rush it more to get it on time, so..... here it is, because as they say better late than never!





	1. Christmas Eve

**Author's Note:**

> I 've never written a SW story in Modern Setting before so I hope got it right. 
> 
> My greatest thanks to my beautiful beta Enfysnest who always makes the initial check for me and all the people who like and support my works. Thank you, you keep me going. <3<3 <3

She must be around 5. A bit more perhaps, or a bit less. A cute little thing with brown curls, cherry lips and light blue eyes. A restless spirit too. Smells trouble from afar.

“Is there really a Santa Claus?”

It’s an eager question and all the more truthful. Just one of those kids spit out without a thought or inhibitions.

“Do you believe there is, Lizzie?” Her mother asks and the girl seems puzzled.

“I don’t know”.

“But if there is, I hope he gets me roller skates” she says and stuffs her mouth with an enormous marshmallow. The mother laughs and squeezes her daughter’s tiny hand in her own.

Rey has also a few requests for Santa. A couch to begin with would be nice.

A dishwasher. A good dress and a pair of pumps to go along with that good dress.

The list could go on forever but Rey isn’t greedy. She has made it thus far mostly on her own and she is quite content with her situation. If anything, she has always been optimistic about the future. And when things don’t work out, she knows exactly how to start over and try again. It was a lesson learned hard but learned well.

Its Christmas Eve and everyone seems to be rushing to somewhere. The café is empty and Rey stares out the window. Most people are loaded with packages like ants running to their nest preparing for winter. The New York city lights bright shine, the sky is cloudless and the cold is bearable. All is good. And it will be better if she gets the news she expects.

Which come anytime around …. now. Her phone hums in the pocket of her jacket and Rey’s train of thought is lost instantly. A message from Poe. Τhen a second one, only to be followed by a third.

_“Hello sweetie”_

_“Kaydel found airplane tickets and eventually we will be leaving for London”_

_“Are you going to be ok?”_

Is she? Not the news she expected or hoped for. Rey knows she should be happy for her friend’s trip; however, she can’t help being kinda bitter. She is going to be alone for Christmas eve. And Christmas. And a couple more days after that. That’s no reason to show it though. After all, nothing can be done about it.

 _“Of course, I hope you have a blast”,_ she types promptly and the response comes back just as fast.

_“Thanks! We are sorry we can’t make it for dinner”_

_“Are you sure you are going to be ok?”_

“ _I am going to be just fine, go prepare that luggage already, it won’t prepare itself you know”_

Rey adds a smiley to the text to make it seem even more convincing.

_“Right! Have some fun time too, sweetheart”_

_“I definitely will, don’t you worry about me”_

_“Ok, talk to you soon”_

What an irony. She has asked Santa for a couch but it seems that it even if she got one, there would be no one to sit on it.

“Dear Santa”, she says straightening the red, overstuffed figure with the fluffy belly and the bushy, long beard which hangs on the entrance door of Maz’s café and poses as St. Nicholas,

“how about bringing some company over for Christmas?”

“Then we can discuss about the couch…”

If the marionette agrees or not, she cannot tell. Perhaps under that bushy beard and the fluffy belly, lies something. A tender, tiny soul. Rey would like to believe it does.

Its closing time and she wipes clean all the benches and checks that all tasks have been completed. Every Christmas Eve, Maz closes the shop early. That enables all her employees get to their families at a decent time for the meal’s preparations. Rey doesn’t have a family but she appreciates the fact that Maz treats her exactly like the others. She is the last one to go though. She needs to be sure that at the end of the day, when she locks the shop up everything is in order. It’s her sweet routine and she embraces it. Then she goes home.

Fifteen minutes walking is what it takes to get to her building - only a 12 blocks distance really- but now with all these bags she is carrying it’s a killer. She leaves her bags on the pavement, stretches her back and then pulls them up again and continues.

Its then when she sees him, getting out of a cab. But it’s not the first time.

That was 3 weeks ago. The first Sunday of December. That same day she decorated every corner of her apartment with a ridiculous number of Christmas lamps.

He didn’t seem to have many things when he moved into the apartment right next to hers. Everything happened fast. In an evening mostly.

She later found out that the landlord had been elated to having rented that condo after 6 months of it remaining vacant. Clarifications were given, hands were shaken and the contract was marked with two fat signatures sealing the agreement.

Passing through the corridor, as his things were transferred by the moving company, Rey reckoned it would be only proper to introduce herself. Or maybe he should be the one introducing himself as a newcomer but all that savoir vivre was probably unimportant.

Rey recalls the day as if it is were yesterday.

“Hello”

“I am Rey Johnson”

She smiled heartily and stretched out her arm to shake hands, him taking it somewhat hesitantly.

“I live in the apartment on the left”, she explained as if she had to, although she had just gotten out of her door.

“Pleased to meet you”, he replied with a courtesy that came out typical and cold.

Rey was almost certain that no more words would get out of his mouth when she was finally refuted.

“Armitage Hux”.

And that was it. End of discussion.

She saw him again a couple of times within the building when she was rushing for her early shift at Maz’s and he was heading to the Embassy of Ireland where he worked -as Betsy the gossip queen of the neighborhood had let everyone know (because if there was something to be discovered about a person Betsy would most definitely get it out even before the person discovered it himself)- exchanging again only a few forced words.

The last time she wished him good morning and he spat out a chill “morning” as reply, Rey decided she was done with pleasantries. She would plainly ignore him just as if he weren’t there. Just as if his apartment was still empty and uninhabited.

However, every time she told herself to mind her own business, she couldn’t help wondering what lied beneath that pale, redheaded distant man with the heavy accent.

It was usually small things that triggered that interest.

The soft melodies of jazz music, travelling through their parting wall, echoing in her bedroom, late at nights.

The grey cloud of smoke that the wind brought to her window when he lit his cigarette at his balcony.

The smell of fresh coffee coming from the air vent at 6 o clock in the morning followed by the sound of his boots.

On top of that he was gorgeous alright. Cold, grumpy and gorgeous.

Rey took out the groceries from the bags and cleared the table to make room for her preparations. Tonight, some Christmas music was in order and the party would begin.

Even if it was a solo thing. Even if she was all alone. One thing was certain, she would spend the night as best as she could. Music, good food and then _Love Actually_ with that priceless flabbergasted look of Hugh Grant she absolutely adored.

Everything was planned, organized and set. Or it was, until she heard the bang.

Rey turned down the volume of the music and approached her entrance door. She could hear someone nearby swearing and pacing back and forth nervously, with every sound reflecting amplified by the corridor walls.

She opened her door and took a look. There he was again, standing outside his front door.

Actually, kicking his front door.

“Is everything alright?” She asked in a reluctant and quiet voice.

“Everything is fine!”, he shouted most possibly ready to go on a rampage.

“Splendid!”

That was quite enough for her to get back to her apartment and close her door. Whatever her neighbor was dealing with was not her problem. Besides she had things to do, the mayonnaise sauce was not ready yet, the wine was still in the bottle and not in her glass -unacceptable really- and Hugh Grant was waiting for her anxiously. She couldn’t waste time on that annoying neighbor, no matter how handsome he was.

But she might not have had a choice about it. Because it was no more than five minutes after the incident that there was a knock on her door. Rey peered through the eyehole, only to see a frowned face with ginger strands.

“I am sorry” he said when Rey opened her door again though she could not trace any apologetic hints but mostly discomfort.

“I ‘ve been locked out of my apartment”, he confessed, brows furrowed together, lips pressed in a thin line.

“And my mobile phone got discharged”

Every word was uttered like someone had put a gun on his head and he had to reveal some lethal secret. He made a grimace and continued.

“Could I use your charger for a short while?

He gulped.

“Please?”

If one thing was obvious, that would be that Armitage Hux didn’t like to socialize. Second one would be to ask for help. Now he had to do both.

“Come on in”, Rey replied and opened her door fully, retreating to her bedroom and reaching out for her backpack. Hux got into her apartment falteringly and remained standing in the hallway like a statue.  
“It’s a Samsung charger and it’s the only one I ‘ve got”, she added handing him the device a few seconds later. “There’s a plug over there” she indicated with her index finger showing him the spot on the wall.

“Thank you” was the response she got and this time there was a dose of relief coming out with it.

“May I smoke?”

He may not. Rey lets no one smoke in her home. The smell remains on the curtains and the walls get dark stains. Not to mention the burn marks when the cigarette decides to roll away to the wooden floor. Or the rug. Or wherever it’s not supposed to go to.

“Let me get you an ashtray”, she mumbles and wonders what on earth has happened to her principles.

As soon as his mobile phone starts to charge, Hux turns it on and browses the web. Rey tells herself to quit staring at him and get on with her chores but her body isn’t complying. There is something about that uniform of his, or his military stance, or his overall presence that is captivating. Sooner or later, Rey compels herself to move and do something freaking useful and when her hands finally obey, she starts to chop cabbage.

He makes multiple calls, one after the other. One fruitless after the other.

“Nobody is answering”, he announces in the end, frustration leaving his mouth, reaching his eyes.

“I have called at least a dozen locksmiths, but none is picking up”

Rey turns to his side again, cocking her head and folding her arms.

“Well, it is Christmas eve and kind of late...”

For a moment he seems to contemplate something and have an epiphany. Then he blurts his idea.

“Perhaps I could jump from your balcony to mine, I think I might have left my balcony door open”

_Is he freaking serious?_

“Are you out of your mind? We are on the 5th floor!”

“And what if your balcony door is **not** actually open? You are going to jump back again?  
Forget it”.

“Alright”, Hux condones grudgingly and his face stiffens but Rey is adamant about it.

“What are you going to do?” she asks the minute she sees him unplug her charger from his phone and pick up his briefcase.

“There is not much I can do”

“I suppose I will stay in a hotel tonight and get someone to open that bloody door tomorrow”

He is playing with chances and his chances are slim. Rey cocks her head again.

“I don’t want to discourage you but during the holiday season everything is pretty much booked in the area”.

She is right and he knows it. This only makes it more irritating.

“Then I guess I will head back to the Embassy and sleep on my desk”

The statement is followed by sarcasm and a sour look.

Rey on the other hand has a deadpan expression and doesn’t think twice before she speaks out what’s on her mind.

“Or you could have dinner with me and stay here for the night”

Hux can’t hide his astonishment as he opens his mouth to say something but then closes it again like a goldfish in a bowl.

She doesn’t know how she said that, or why -though probably she does but it’s still too much- and she mumbles on to hide her awkwardness.

“I don’t have a couch but I can get you some blankets and you can crash on the rug”

“That is… until the morning that you get to have a locksmith come over or get in touch with the landlord, in case he ‘s got a spare key”

Hux overcomes his initial surprise and takes a deep puff on his cigarette which glows brightly and then fades like a shooting star.

“Wont your boyfriend mind?”, he manages to ask finally and Rey is sure that there is teasing in his voice but decides to ignore it and laugh.

“I think he would if I had one”

That one takes him unprepared.

“Oh… I thought…”

But Rey is fast to connect the dots and get the picture for him.

“That was Finn you saw, the other day I mean”.

“He, along with Poe and the rest of the gang, Rose and Kaydel were all here on Friday. They are my closest friends. My best friends in fact”.

Hux puts out his cigarette and one could say he almost crashes it in the ashtray.

“Yeah, I heard you quite alright”

 _Of course he did._ That may be the sole purpose of existence for the gang. To be heard.

“Did we make too much noise?”

“The one that tried to play Van Halen on Guitar Hero, yes”.

Rey laughs and tries to justify herself,

“I told Poe that it wouldn’t be…”

But suddenly stops and turns her head at the kitchen as the smell comes heavy and pungent,

“Damn! The food”, she shouts and makes a run for it.

Rey takes the baking dish out of the oven and Hux who follows, encounters the smallest turkey he has ever seen in his life.

“It’s a stuffed chicken”, she explains as if reading his mind before he dares to say anything,

“the principle is basically the same with the turkey but I prefer it because I don’t have either a large oven to bake it, or a large fridge to store it”

She turns over the potatoes and pierces some mushrooms with her fork.

“Saved it in the last minute…”, Rey smiles, “I do hope you like it crispy though”.

The enticing smell follows the baking dish and soon takes over the room. It is everywhere now and Hux’s nostrils are dilated with the scent of butter, garlic and rosemary.

In no time, Rey has gotten hold of her kitchen again. She turns the kettle on and puts in a mixture of flavored teas with flowers, fruits and extracts. When the water has boiled and the tea is ready, she puts two cups on the table. Hux is merely standing and watching.

“You are still wearing your coat” she points out, “let me get that”

And even though Hux hasn’t agreed to anything yet, she somehow ends up with his coat on her hands placing it on her stand. When she returns, she pushes one of the cups of the aromatic brew in front of him.

“Tea?” she asks although the cup is already there waiting, filled to the brim.

“Yes, thank you”

Its gratitude he feels as the hot liquid goes down his throat, but he stays silent and subconsciously hopes she’s got a sixth sense acknowledging it.

“I need a little time with the salad. Do you like coleslaw? “

He doesn’t say yes or no. Just nods his head and his eyes flutter shut at the same time affirmatively.

Rey’s fingers work with mastery shredding the white and red cabbage and mixing it with the grated carrots, combining all ingredients in a bowl, along with a touch of parsley -which is not in the original recipe but she can’t help adding- and heads on to prepare the creamy sauce. Mayonnaise, white vinegar, lemon and sugar and it’s a matter of minutes before Rey gets her whisk to work converting the mixture into an off-white dressing with a smooth and velvety texture. After stirring everything together, a handful of walnuts does the trick for décor and the salad is ready to serve. Rey inspects her creation and decides she is pleased.

All this time, in the back of her head she tries not to think that his eyes are watching her every move. It makes her nervous. He makes her nervous. Which actually has no grounds at all, considering that she has cooked for friends before and that -for crying out loud- she works in a kitchen serving people food on a daily basis.

But Armitage Hux is neither a friend, nor a customer and she can’t comprehend how to deal with it, except for desperately wanting everything to be done right.

“Is there something I can do?”, he finally asks and for a second there, she is lost but then returns to earth and to him again.

“As a matter of fact, there is” Rey determines and hands him a bottle of wine and a corkscrew, retrieving his mug now that’s empty.

“Cabernet Sauvignon”, he mutters and she is impressed about how “Frenchy” that sounded.

“It was a present from my friends, for my graduation from the cooking school”

“It was a good choice”

“I am glad it was” she smiles again. “Pour us some” and suddenly two glasses make their appearance as she gently lays them on the kitchen counter.

 _He likes this girl._ She works magic with her hands, a knife, a fork and an apron being her only allies. There’s something genuine about her, something that comes rare in this world that he believes it to be phony and pretentious. Especially in Christmas.

“Give me 5 to 10 minutes tops and I am done”, she says after taking a large sip of her wine.

“Take your time”, he responds reassuringly as he reclines on his seat and takes out another cigarette from his packet, “I ‘ve got nowhere to go” with the remark being caustic but addressed not to her but rather his situation.

It’s the last step now. She takes the brown concoction out of the fridge and starts to butter half a dozen of ramekins. Once she is done with that, she adds a tiny bit of cocoa at the bottom and then fills each one of them with the mixture. The oven is already warm and ready to serve as last home to these small chocolate darlings. And then, off they go.

Hux has already drank his first glass of wine and heads for a second. Not much of a talker but at least he seems relaxed, as he has leaned back on his chair, blowing rings of smoke, watching them float into the air, amidst his thoughts. Her glass is still more than halfway full.

She sets the table for dinner and -thank God- he extinguishes that cigarette immediately. His good manners oblige him to do something more than just sit and watch but he has no clue where is what in her kitchen and he doesn’t want to be in her way.

Finally, all dishes are served, Rey takes off her apron and their dinner begins.  
She feels the need to serve his plate although he assures her, she doesn’t have to. When he takes the plate out of her hands and their fingers brush, she’s got that feeling again. Nervousness.

Just as if being on a first date. Its absurd.

Maybe some more wine will counter the effect. Rey impulsively drinks all at once the wine from her glass and he instantly refills it.

After a while she asks. She really has to know.

“Is it good?”

Insecurity gets the best of her, no matter how unaffected she tries to show.

“It’s very good actually. You are a pretty good cook”

For the first time in something less than an hour, Rey allows herself to take a breather and accept the compliment.

“Thank you”

“I am the one who should be thanking you” he admits with all the authority that marks an officer’s proclamation.

“It’s nothing really”, she insists kindly.

Hux is on his third glass of wine and his tongue starts to loosen.

“In the last years, I ‘ve been taking my meals exclusively at the officer’s club and I can assure you they are standardized and bland at best”.

The way he speaks and reacts is so normal, so tranquil, that Rey has every reason to believe that Hux is truly at ease. It appears that the grumpy-next door-Ebenezer Scrooge, might actually have a chance at cheerfulness, though it’s not three ghosts that are visiting him this Christmas eve, but rather three glasses of wine.

“You are from Ireland, right?”

The question gives her the impression that it puts him slightly off.

“Yes, Dublin”, he confirms a bit tensely.

“Do you miss home?”

“No. Not at all” the reply being an abrupt one.  
Tension leaves and absoluteness takes its place. Rey doesn’t know if she is walking into dangerous territory. It might be a huge mistake but she wants to dig in.

“How come?”

“There are simply no ties”

“No ties? What about your family?”

“What about it?”  
“We ‘ve got mutual feelings. They don’t miss me, I don’t miss them”.

“Can’t really understand how that works…”

“Easily”

“It starts by being conceived by a maid and a high rank, prestigious military officer out of mistake, while he is married to a lovely wealthy wife”.

“So, you were…”

“An illegitimate child, to put it nicely”

Rey is silent. She ‘s found a wound and she doesn’t want to rub salt in to it.

“He acknowledged me eventually, just before I turned one. He didn’t have a choice of course because, it was already known and spreading in his circles and he wanted to hush it up as quickly as possible”.

“I grew up with my father’s wife and my half siblings. My father was mostly absent, except for the times I needed to be berated, punished or reminded of what my place was. He would magically appear then.”

Rey lets him talk. He looks like he needs it, although she doesn’t know if its him talking or the wine.

“No matter what I did, nothing seemed to please him. I got only criticism from him, derision from his other children and tolerance from his wife”.

“It was incredible how efficiently he used his double standards on me”.

“When I got top grades at school it was merely imperative and expected”.

“When I didn’t, I was a failure”.

“When my football team won the championship, it was a team effort”.

“When next year it didn’t reach the finals, _I_ had not tried enough”.

“His mouth seemed always full of degrading comments but when it dried up, he would stay silent. I got plenty of that silent treatment, it was all about anger and contempt. The thing was I didn’t know what I had done wrong.”

“By the age of 17, I finally got it”.

“I was going to spend the rest of my life being treated as if I had _“bastard”_ carved on my forehead”.

“So, I stopped”.

“Stopped…what?”

“Caring. Trying.”

Rey has already put her fork down and stopped eating while listening with compassion. Why does it all this sound so familiar? _Maybe because it is._

“I am sorry.”

“Don’t be.”  
“You have no idea how liberating it is, to stop trying over a lost a cause.

“Or struggling to be strong and perfect all the time”.

“But the most significant thing of all, is when you get that, it’s really not your fault.”

He pauses for an instant.

“My last concession to my family was to have a military career. Haven’t regretted that one. But I knew I needed a time out from life in Dublin, so when this position at the Embassy came up, I took the opportunity without a second thought.”

“So, the story of my life in less than five minutes” he concludes smugly and is pleased it’s over and done with. Although, he is not quite finished.

“What’s yours?”

He sprawls his arm on the table, his fingers playing around jerkily now that he hasn’t got a cigarette to occupy them with. Rey wavers.

“I…I don’t know my parents for starters”

“I was left at the orphanage as a baby and remained there until I was seven”.

If her initial words have any impact on him, its undefinable. He is got that impenetrable gaze, his immaculate face looking like a porcelain doll. Rey gathers her courage and goes on.

“Then I was taken to a foster home. And after some time to another”.

“I have stayed with multiple foster parents tossed like a ball between them and the Child Care Services”

“The experiences have been…”, Rey smiles bitterly.

“Let’s just say there had been few good times, plenty bad ones and quite a lot dreadful”.

“17 was a turning point for me too”.

“After a deeply traumatic period with the last family I was sent to, I decided I was done with foster parenting which was hardly ever parenting”.

“I lived on the streets for about 9 months before Maz found me and took me under her protection. She got me some clothes and a few other basic things and in return, I helped her at the café. At first, I slept in the kitchen and used her washroom but gradually I saved money to get a place of my own. After I turned 18 and got my papers settled, Maz hired me officially and managed to rent a room”.

“Things got better after that. While working at the café, I got to know my friends and they helped too. Maz was very satisfied with my work at the kitchen and in serving so my friends insisted and supported me into taking cooking lessons.

When Maz retires in 2 years’ time, she told me she is going to pass the café on to me”.

“I am glad it worked out for you in the end”, Hux replies in a thoughtful voice as he contemplates everything, he has heard so far.

“And here I am, nagging about my old man, when you ‘ve had to deal with survival”.

“That doesn’t make it any less important” Rey counters. And then she goes on,

“Listen…”  
“I cannot imagine what you ‘ve been through and I cannot say I understand. It would be a lie.

His fingers still tap nervously on the table and it seems only right when she places her hand over his and starts rubbing small circles. He doesn’t pull away and since he doesn’t her hand will stay there. Touching. Rubbing. Calming.

“But if you want to talk about abandonment…”

“If you want to talk about neglection or mistreatment…”

“The feeling of being a lesser child or a burden…. Oh, trust me, I know _all about it_ ”.

“And it matters all the same for every child”.

Right there and then a connection is forged. It’s instant and fierce and overwhelming.  
A vehement wave that crushes on the shore and then returns to the heart of the ocean to vanish in its depth, its course mutual and deep.

With a single move Hux’s other hand lays on hers, causing it to petrify, holds it and the next second turns it around and places a soft kiss on her palm.

“Thank you”

“For what?”, she stammers her hand lightly trembling.

“For taking me into your home even though you didn’t have to”

“For sharing with me your magnificent dinner”

“But most of all”

“For being you”

Rey is stunned and probably has forgotten how to breath. She has to say something now but she only stays put, lips sealed.

Fortunately, she is saved by the bell. Her oven’s timer in fact which is to remind her that the soufflés are ready.

“Dessert? It’s the only word she can utter.

“Oh yes please”, he laughs, “show me what you ‘ve got”

Rey stands up and tries to get a grip of herself. She has to prepare two dishes with sweets and thankfully, this is what she knows best. The first one goes for her guest. She has no trouble in taking the soufflé out of the ramekin and have it stand neatly in the center of the plate. If it has been baked correctly, a lava of chocolate fudge should flow through the middle once its cut. Rey won’t leave it to chance. She takes a knife and stabs the subsequent souffle in line in its ramekin. The knife emerges wet with chocolate and Rey gets the reassurance she needs to concentrate once again on his plate. A scoop of Madagascar vanilla ice cream comes to rest beside the dark brown cake, doused with caramel syrup and candied hazelnuts. Ready, steady, go.

And it surely must be a race because Rey can feel the sweat running down the back of her neck. Hux takes a bite combining all four flavors of the dish and lets the taste dissolve in his mouth.

“So, what do you think?” She asks in suspense as if she is in a cooking contest about to be disqualified with him being the judge.

“I think….

_Drum Roll_

…that when you take over the café from Maz, I am going to invest on it”

That sounds good. No, that sounds _great_. Now she can ready her plate. By the time however she has served herself he has already finished but she accepts gladly his apology for not waiting for her because it was _“far too damned good to stop”_ as he stated and that fills her with pride.

When she finishes too, he helps her carry the dishes to sink.

“Allow me”

“You did all the cooking, it’s only fair for me to wash the dishes”

But Rey objects.

“No need for it now”.

“It can wait until tomorrow, I won’t have anything to do anyway”

Hux disagrees but Rey won’t take another word of it, so he backs down. She turns her face towards him and he smiles in a way she wouldn’t think possible a couple of hours ago.

“You ‘ve got chocolate on your face”

Why doesn’t this surprise her? She always ends up smudged somehow.

“Oh”

Rey takes a napkin and blindly tries to hit the spot.

“Let me”, he says and softly wipes the stain off but instead of the napkin he uses his thumb and cups her cheek in the process, sending shivers down her spine. It only adds up to the chill in the apartment that grows slowly as the central heating has been turned off a while ago. It is this time every day that Rey usually dives under her duvet and sleeps if she ‘s got an early shift, or watches a movie if she doesn’t.

“Are you tired? Would you like to get some sleep?”, she asks faintly.

“Sure. How about those blankets?”

He hasn’t forgotten her suggestion though probably he won’t forget any of the events of this day for quite a long time.

They keep staring at each other’s eyes as if the one who breaks eye contact loses some kind of bet, so no one does. It doesn’t help her though with what she means to say and she eventually is the one to give up.

“On a second thought, I am not letting you sleep on the floor, Armitage”

“My bed may not be that big for both of us, but …uhm…

...I think it will do”

Her hand grips her other wrist in a defensive stance and waits. Waits for something to happen.  
Hux is calm and collected, a slight smirk slowly spreading beneath his flashing green eyes.

“Lucky me, huh?”, he says sounding husky and rough edged.

The comment makes her blush and before there is time for her to think what he means exactly he hits her with another question.

“Are you sure?”

His low, deep voice makes her composure shake like a tower of playing cards ready to fall apart.

“Yes”, she replies barely audible albeit she is not sure to what she concedes to.

“Alright”

“Alright”, she repeats lost in a haze.

Then neither of them is saying anything or moving until he decides again to break the silence.

“Can I use your bathroom?”

“Of course,”

“Down at the end of the hallway.”

Hux heads to the bathroom leaving Rey behind him in a state of confusion.

She hurries to undress and wear the only thing she’s got at the moment as a nightshirt which happens to be a 3XL blouse with the picture of a rabbit smoking weed under the punchline _“Who the fuck is Alice?”_. Rey had found this in an _Alice in Wonderland_ event and the urge to buy it had been irresistible.

Then she immediately jumps into bed and brings the duvet over her nose in an attempt to get warm as fast as possible. Her feet are cold -figuratively and literally- and her toes are prickling.  
It doesn’t take long before Hux shows up in his undershirt and boxers, carrying his clothes in a neat pile in one hand and his boots in the other. Her eyes follow him every step of the way until he gets close and pulls the covers to crawl into the bed with her.

And when he does her heart skips a beat. Or two.

It’s inevitable that their bodies touch. _And he is so warm_.  
Even without effort. Rey wants to seize that warmth. _Mine,_ she ponders but she will dare not claim it.

Her hand reaches for the light switch and in the next second the room glows. There is something soothing about the darkness between them which is only disrupted by the decorative lamps that pulse gently but ceaselessly.

“Do you sleep with all those Christmas lights?”

There is still something teasing in his tone of voice which is in a way amusing.

“I do. Do you mind them?”  
He doesn’t answer right away.

“No”

“Liar!” she exclaims and giggles stealing a chuckle from him too.

Just as their laughs fade, Hux shifts to a different position.

“Are you comfortable?”, she asks with consideration

“Quite much… are you?”

“I am ok”

“But your back is on the wall”

It’s true. She has squeezed herself in the corner where the bed meets the wall to make room for him. He’s observant alright. Maybe now it can be used in her favor.  
Rey takes a deep breath, leans over and eventually lays her head on his chest.

There, now her back is not on the wall.

And just like that, a game of chess begins in which both of them make respectively a single move forward. Because as soon as her face rests on his sternum, he starts to stroke her hair. It sends a tingling sensation throughout her body and Rey lets loose of herself to sink into the moment. Then her hand finds its way on his abdomen.

The next move is his. Hux’s arms lock around her and press her so tightly against him that their faces are inches apart. He smells tobacco, wine and some musky cologne and she ‘ll be damned if she doesn’t want to nuzzle her nose to his neck and drown herself in his scent.  
She entangles her legs with his and then it comes.

Its hungry and rapturous and wild.

The kiss that makes lips melt and souls shatter.  
The kiss that breaks into thousand little kisses because you never want it to end for otherwise it would leave you incomplete and deprived.

The kiss of kisses.

_Checkmate_

Maybe, just maybe Santa Claus exists after all.

And it seems that even though Rey’s apartment doesn’t have a chimney, he has managed to sneak into her home and leave her a present. Nothing much really.

Just the one she truly wanted.


	2. Christmas

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a small chapter to complete my initial idea

She opens her eyes and realizes that her neck is stiff and her arm numb. She obviously fell asleep in a rather uncomfortable position although sleeping is something, they have barely done all night. Hux doesn’t seem to be in a much better state. His legs are popping out the end of the bed and his back is right on the edge. Just a slight movement and he has fallen off.

Moreover, they are both merely coated by the covers and her ribs are getting cold now that she is naked. Rey makes a slight effort to pull the covers without waking him up but he is somewhat rolled up in them and she is much too clumsy to unfold anything, so she fails the minute she tries. His eyes blink a few times before they adjust to the room’s light, and then he slowly turns to her side. Hazel eyes are already gazing at him.

“Good morning…”

His throat is sore and his voice comes out hoarse. He wants to sit up but realizes he is one step from falling over, so he is more than cautious about what he can and cannot do before he makes a move.

“Good morning!”

Rey leans on her elbow right beside him looking fresh, cheerful and in a playful mood. Just as if she is up to something.

“Would you like some pancakes with maple syrup?”

Hux grins.

“Do you ever stop thinking about food or cooking?”

“Sometimes...when I ‘ve got more interesting things to do”, she replies with meaning and bends over to give him a kiss.

“Besides, an energy refill is surely needed” she tells him with a wink and a wide smile.

That is a valid argument. On the other hand, he would prefer to stay there, attached to her for as long as possible.

“What we need is a bigger bed”

_We? When did it become “we”?_

Rey is happily bewildered. Definitely bewildered and definitely happily.

“Not in my priorities.

Have been saving for a couch but since I am getting that next Christmas I…”

“Next Christmas?” he cuts her baffled,

“Yeah”  
“Well, you see…”

“This year I asked from Santa Claus for company over Christmas and he got me… you.  
Since that was possible, next year I am going for the couch. I don’t how it will happen but I am absolutely certain that a couch will somehow land on my living room”.

Hux begins to chuckle and soon his chuckle becomes a loud laugh.

“But yes, of course, that makes perfect sense”

Then he grabs his mobile phone from the bedside table and turns it on now that it’s fully charged. Her head rests on his left arm as they lay entwined in the bed but that’s not a problem as his right hand is doing all the work. He taps a few buttons and goes online. A few more taps on the keyboard and Google provides him with a number of search results he could click for the rest of his life.

After a quick thought, he picks out Wayfair and navigates through the online store’s menu. He scrolls and scrolls and scrolls until he seems to have found something intriguing.

“Do you like this one?”  
“It’s a convertible sofa-bed”

Rey has been discreet so far, keeping her eyes away from his screen, but now that he is asking, she raises her head to take a look.

“Yeah…. I guess”

“I think it’s nice and comfortable”, he remarks as Rey glances at the price and her jaw drops.

“And expensive” she adds.

That sofa costs something more than twice her take-home salary. No wonder about that, nice things _are always_ expensive. That’s probably why she doesn’t get to have many.

Hux presses the _Add to Cart_ button just as if he is literally in a super market shopping groceries and Rey knits her brows in astonishment.

“What are you doing?”

He does not reply but rather proceeds to _Check Out_. Rey gets more and more anxious. She sticks her head between him and the mobile phone eager for some attention as it appears to be getting none.

“Armitage… I asked you a question”

He makes an evasive move – he’s been in a football team after all – to get her out of the way and still doesn’t provide her a reply. Rey turns again her face on his screen only to see Paypal sign emerge-submerge and before she knows it, Wayfair thanks heartily for the purchase.

“What on earth...?” she exclaims

Hux grins again, however smugly this time, and finally gives her an answer.

“Ho-Ho-Ho”

**Author's Note:**

> It's far too late for Merry Christmas greetings so I (and Rey's bunny) will just wish....
> 
> Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year!
> 
>  


End file.
